Excerpt from The California Pioneer, and Other Poems The California Pioneer. Good Night! Good night! I cannot rest; the old yet sweet refrain Calls up the phantoms of the past to throng my weary brain. 'Twas twenty years ago to-night, I left my eastern home A boy with heart as buoyant as the light ocean foam. A mother's tender kiss was pressed upon my beardless face; E'en now I see the pleading eyes of ray sweet sister Grace, And feel her arms around my neck just as they were of yore; She came and tried to win me back, outside the kitchen door - "Oh, brother darling! do not go to California's shore; We love you - do not risk your life for all her golden ore. Stay with us - stay on the old farm; father is growing old, And half the anguish of her heart mother's face hath not told. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.